Pi Magazine Abbreviated Content Circa 2005 -2007

The first iteration (2000) of pimagazine.net was for P.I. Magazine, America's largest, most comprehensive magazine serving private investigators from coast to coast. After two years P.I. Magazine folded and the domain languished until its registration was picked up and used for the online version of the student magazine (Pi) of the University College London Union. Pi Magazine came runner up in 2009 for the Guardian Student Media awards under the 'Best Magazine' category. A typical issue of Pi Magazine contained a wide variety of sections of supposed interest to UCL students, such as special features, an opinion section covering current student and general issues, and other sections such as arts, music and fashion.
Jump ahead to 2018. The pimagazine.net's domain registration expired and the new owner of the site has now chosen to keep some of the student magazine's 2005 - 2007 archived content as a nostagic reminder of this site's content from earlier days.

Pi Magazine has now evolved to PI Media, UCL’s largest student media group, and its most diverse. PI covers the entire spectrum of topics, from News and Sport, to Science and Literature. Beyond their media platforms,they are a fully functioning society, with speaker events, workshops and socials galore. Their current website is found at: http://pimediaonline.co.uk/

Circa 2005

We are UCL's longest established publication, packed full of the latest university news and great in-depth articles on everything from travel to fashion. Award Nomination: This website was nominated for Best Student Media Website in the NUS/Daily Mirror National Student Journalism Awards 2005.

Whilst using my delicate, shiny spoon to penetrate the airy froth of my café crème, looking out upon the resplendent Boulevard Saint-Michel, I notice Le Monde perching innocuously on the ledge of a nearby mahogany table. The newspaper is choked with articles and pictures of the strife that document the disturbing situations developing in the banlieues. Returning the paper to the rack opposite the door, I wonder whether I would ever have known about the troubles had I not glanced at the images adorning the front pages. The Paris I could see outside was the beautiful city that had cast a spell over me, like so many others. But what I was reading in the newspapers was ugly.

I once tried a monocle because I read about them in an interesting post called "facts about glasses" on a website selling eyeglasses and frames. Did you know that glasses are ancient and that according to Wikipedia "one of the earliest evidence of the use glasses is found in the 1352 portrait painted by the Italian painter, Tommaso da Modena, of the Dominican Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher who was a renowned biblical scholar." The principle behind glasses and other lenses are part and parcel of the investigative professions, since surveillance techniques rely on excellent visual spying devices. My monocle became more of an encumbrance than a fashion item, but the insights gained from that post stick with me to this day.

Pi caught up with Elijah Wood to speak about his new film ‘Everything is Illuminated’

KG: How were you approached for the project or did you pick it yourself?

EW: I was given the script. My agent tracked it down. I immediately fell in love with it and fell in love with the characters. There is a lot of comedy and that’s one of the elements of the script I love the most because it’s genuinely funny and it is a comedy based out of a very real moment. It’s not played out comedy at all. It’s comedy based on misconceptions and odd interpretations, and cultural differences. I just found that so endearing and so enjoyable.

KG: What do you think are the main themes that the film explores?

EW: It’s about self-discovery and understanding ourselves in relation to our family. It’s also about the relationship of these three people and the realisation that they all come to that they’re not as dissimilar as they initially thought which is really important. Discovering this helps open themselves up to the rest of their lives.

KG: What was it like working with Liev Schreiber on his directorial debut?

EW: It was wonderful. He’s a very wonderful guy. He’s a very competent director for someone who had never done it before. He very much did the story that he wanted to tell and as an actor it was really refreshing to work with someone that is an actor doing something like this that is so character driven. It was an aid in the process of bringing these characters to life.

KG: Have you any inclinations to go to that side of things yourself?

EW: I’ve always sort of thought that one day I would like to try directing. I think it gave me the most realistic perspective of what it would be like, watching another actor go through that experience for the first time. I’m probably more apt to do that know than I would have in the past but at the same time I don’t see myself doing that any time soon.

KG: You’ve worked with a lot of big and small directors now. Whom did you get on with most?

EW: Every director’s different for very different reasons but I feel like the experience working with Peter on the LOTR was one of the most special I’ve had. Not just from Peter himself but also everybody else working on the film and the creative atmosphere that Peter created. If I had a choice to work with one group of people for the rest of my life it’d probably be them.

KG: I heard that Eugene Hutz who played Alex is an amateur musician. Is he any good?

EW: He’s fully professional and in a band called Go Go Bordello, it’s a gypsy punk band. He’s been in the band for about 7 years now and just released a record a month ago and is touring Europe in December. He’s amazing. He’s never been in a film before but he has such a natural sense of performance and what it means to be a different character already. He definitely knew what he was doing in terms of performing; it was just the context of film that was unfamiliar with him but he was wonderful to work with.

KG: People might complain that there were big differences in the film and the book, and that a key aspect of the story veers in a different direction. How would you answer them?

EW: It does differ and I think it was always in Liev’s mind and even Jonathan’s mind, who wrote the book, that the film was always going to be it’s own thing. I don’t think Liev was looking to make an adaptation that was going to be completely faithful. His initial exposure was not the entire novel. He had read an excerpt and it was that element that endeared to him and that’s ultimately what he chose to adapt. Nobody was really concerned with trying to make the grand scope; we couldn’t have done it on our budget anyway! I bought the book and brought it to Prague and started to read it, but found that the book was a very different structure from what Liev had taken from it. Based on that I just wanted to focus on what Liev had adapted.

KG: A lot of the film takes place in the confines of the car. Was that very claustrophobic?

EW: It was really small and cramped but I loved it. I think those scenes are so specific to the kind of the awkward atmosphere and miscommunication and the space and the proximity to one and other really lends itself to them. The fact that the car was so cramped really made those scenes much more dynamic.

KG: You yourself seem to be drawn more to independent movies nowadays. Are you seeing yourself more in that niche?

EW: It’s not intentional. It’s more the scripts that I read and fall in love with happen to be smaller. It’s not a thing on my part to search for small movies or search for independent films. I’m always just looking for something to respond to and if it happens to be small, it happens to be small.

KG: What are your future plans have you got any other big or small films coming up?

EW: I’m about to start working on a film called Bobby that Emilio Estevez wrote and is going to direct on the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the day that John F Kennedy was shot. It’s sort of like a cross section of different people’s lives intersecting on that day.

KG: I hear you’re a very keen fan of British Indie music. Anybody we should be looking out for?

EW: Yeah I’m a huge music fan in general. There’s a band from the UK actually from Glasgow that I’m huge fan of called Sons and Daughters who are amazing. That’s probably one of the most recent bands from that part of the world that I’ve fallen in love with. I’m also really keen to hear the full Babyshambles record as well. I’m actually in the process of trying to get a record label started. Just to do that on the side, to essentially find bands that I believe in and try and get them heard and released.

KG: The basic premise of the film is quite family orientated. Did that make you think of your family a lot and their help in your achievements?

EW: Yeah that’s something I probably think of pretty regularly anyway. It’s the heritage element that was new to me. I don’t have any connection to my heritage beyond the fact that I know I do have roots in Poland and Germany. It actually inspired in me the idea of at some point taking that journey myself and trying to connect with my roots and where I come from since I hadn’t really done that.

KG: Was this your first trip to Eastern Europe then?

EW: It was. I wish that we could have gone to the Ukraine. The thing about Prague is a much as it is Eastern Europe its now part of the EU so its very much changing. There are so many Americans, and the English and various people from other parts of Europe moving and working there that it’s Eastern European idea is sort of fading. It’s an interesting place to be. I didn’t get a sense of being in Eastern Europe in the way that it’s represented in the film. It was more like being in a place that’s redefining itself and I found that fascinating.

KG: You’ve spent some time in London, Europe, and New Zealand. Is America still home, is that where you feel most comfortable?

EW: It’s home but I love to travel and I love living abroad and mixing with other cultures and other people. I will always consider this country my home because it’s where I was raised and where I live but I would love to live abroad and I have many friends abroad in New Zealand, London and Scotland. But definitely New Zealand and Europe are places that I have strong connections to and will always be a part of my life and I will always continue to travel and try to explore more.

KG: Has the success of LOTR had a big effect on your life?

EW: It has and it hasn’t. I’m more recognisable in my personal life. I’m more recognisable than I was before. At the same time I go about my personal life just as I would have before I did LOTR. I think the biggest impact that LOTR had on me was the personal impact, having had that experience and lived in New Zealand on and off for four years and getting to know the people on the films and making life long friendships. I was 18 when I travelled there so it really informed a lot on who I am today as a human being. I did a lot of growing through that experience and for me that’s what I think about most in relation to how that experience has shaped my life.

Pi Tries: Scientology

Original Author: S Dedman, H Davies

Investigative journalism, the final frontier, this issue has been the voyage of the Pi Tries crew. Our continuing mission to seek out strange new life forms and civilisations – to boldly go where no student journalist has gone before.

Only we didn’t have to go far. As in a galaxy not so far away near Goodge Street station lies a strange entity: The Church of Scientology which our data banks tells us was founded in L.A. in 1954. The religion itself and its version of history does not really concur (in fact it just doesn’t concur) with ours.

Staff Cuts: Lecturers Call for Student Help

Original Author: Kat Lay Date Posted: Sunday, November 20, 2005

The AUT has appealed for students’ help in its fight against the Provost’s planned 15% staff cuts.

Despite repeated promises from senior college staff that the cuts would not mean course closures, lecturers say this would be impossible. With less academics to cover the same workload, even the Provost has conceded that at minimum class sizes will have to increase.

The Plague Spreading Across UCL

Original Author: Simon Dedman

The headline sounds like its been pasted from The Daily Mail, but I was really in a panic before reading week; bursting out of the Pi Advertising meeting; closely tailed by a member of the team. What was it I was running from? Had I run off with the revenue? No, I had succumbed to initial hypochondria, as I found out that the man who shares this page with me, and whom I had been sitting with the day before, had come down with Mumps.

Debate – Anti-State School Quota

Original Author: Raeesa Chowdhury

I come from an independent school where about 15 people I knew applied to Bristol University, the most notorious university for rejecting private school students. What happened? They were all rejected. End of story? Well no, not really, because the recent news about an increase in state school quota is a shocking development. Bristol University has upped its state school quota to around 85%, which means that those applying from private school have only a chance of being in the last teeny weeny 15 %. As a result, my teachers advised our year not to apply to that university, which was disappointing because it limited our choices.

Debate – Pro-State School Quota

Original Author: Keith Jarrett

UCL is full of toffs… but you don’t need me to tell you that. The truth is that this university is fast becoming a young old boys’ club, and everybody knows this - maybe you’re one of them! In case you don’t believe me, think of the chav-themed nights at the union, a bizarre parody of the kind of thing you see on TV. Yes, let’s don some trackies and pretend we’re on a night out in the suburbs whilst drinking some overpriced cocktails. As for the rise in fair trade products sold at UCL shops, have you seen how much they cost? Let’s be honest now, one can only afford to make a habit of consuming these things if mummy and daddy are heavily subsidising one now. We shan’t be having beans for supper either!

David Cameron Has Arrived

Original Author: Rayhan Haque

The Conservatives are back. Back in the media spotlight, back in contention, and back in the centre ground. Why? Two words: David Cameron. This man, almost all by himself, has set the Conservative party on fire throughout the country. He has achieved something that many before him could only have dreamt of: he’s made people take notice and start talking about the Conservatives again. People aren’t frowning on the Tories these days, they don’t change the channel when they come on air and they’re not willing to be duped by the New Labour spin machine anymore. Like Tony Blair, Cameron has made it fashionable to be a Conservative again (note the political analogy). Aside from all this likeability, he has an abundance of content and substance.

From the favelas of Brazil to the Kenyan shantytowns of East Africa, the award winning director of the extraordinary ‘City of God’, Fernando Mereilles, has returned to the big screen in fighting form with his second film ‘The Constant Gardener’.

Based on British author John le Carre’s novel of the same name, Ralph Fiennes plays Justin Quayle, a quiet, unassuming British diplomat living in Nairobi, whose world turns upside down when he learns that his beloved wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) has been found mysteriously murdered. Justin is not accepting of the explanation given by colleagues at the British High Commission that the murder points to a crime of passion committed by Tessa’s travelling companion. Given that his wife was the regions most well known political and social activist who became notorious in local government circles as well as an outspoken critic of British foreign policy, he becomes determined to find the truth behind the unanswered questions left in the wake of her death.

Alongside the atypical love story, ‘TCG’ explores the socio-political agenda of the link between Western government and the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies in Africa. The story exposes the West’s economic and financial exploitation of the disease-ridden developing country and their conspiracy with the corrupt African government in which the victims of their shady dealings are the vulnerable public. If the polemical concept of the film sounds familiar, it’s because the serious subject matter has been acknowledged and addressed by global government including the UN, whilst also being challenged by charities such as Oxfam. The moral message relayed may be preachy to some but it is nonetheless hard to ignore.

Mereilles has excelled in his second project. He successfully brings the poignancy of the novel to life whilst retaining his own unique style; the non-linear narrative, innovative camerawork and use of locals as extras are all reminiscent of his debut work, yet the film remains original it its realisation. Mereilles’ collaboration with director of photography Cesar Charlone, who previously worked with him on ‘City of God’, provides a good pairing as it is the various faces of Africa shot in vivid colour and played to traditional African beats, from the Kiberan slums to the vast plains, which is the ultimate show stealer.

‘TCG’ is a must see for fans of ‘City of God’, but should also be viewed in its own right for the stunning locations and the fact that its message will make you think long after the film has ended.

Competition: The generous people at M+R have given us copies of ‘The Constant Gardener’ by John le Carre to give away in our competition. To win a copy answer this question: ‘What was Fernando Mereilles’ debut film?’ and e-mail your answer to pi_film_editor@hotmail.co.uk with your name and contact number.

Circa 2006

Pi Squared is launched! UCL's new student newspaper and sister to Pi Magazine is available in ULU, UCLU and departments now.

Bang, You're Dead

Original Author: Jacob Keyes Date Posted: Thursday, November 02, 2006

The past few weeks have seen gun crime blaze back into the headlines, with school shootings in the USA inevitably drawing the most attention. And, even though computer games bear no relevance to these crimes, they have been exploited as an excuse to restart moves to limit or ban violent games – “murder simulations” as Jack Thompson, pro-censorship lawyer, ACLU “Art Censor of the Year” winner, and all-round twat, refers to them.

The gaming community generally reacts to such discussions with a range of scorn, derision, and goatse-spamming hostility, and they’re entirely right to do so, but at the same time the focus of the censors on computer games is not all bad news. It demonstrates the extent to which they have come to be recognised as valid forms of media: as forms of expression, not simply childish diversions. With this status comes the responsibility of defending the freedom of that expression, of course.

Residents new to Ramsay Hall this year have found themselves walking from one noisy building site to another in the main UCL building for their meals.

Disgruntled students say that no warning of such disruption was provided until offers of accommodation were made in late August and early September, at which point many felt it too late to opt out, given UCL’s policy that ‘no other offer’ would be made if students turned the option down.

Racist poem in Manchester mirrors Leeds fracas

Original Author: Francesca Abbot

A security guard at Manchester Metropolitan University has been fired after he wrote a poem entitled the “Illegal Immigrants Poem” and distributed it via email to his colleagues. Mark Newton’s racist words led to his quick dismissal and a subsequent investigation into his actions.

The poem was written in broken English and it described the actions of an immigrant to England, beginning “I cross ocean/ poor and broke/ Take bus/ see employment folk” and continuing for 18 verses, including such lines as “Write to friends/ in motherland/ Tell them ‘come/ fast as you can’.” The university’s Black Member’s Group, who considered filing criminal prosecution, declared the poem “offensive” and “racial incitement against ethnic minorities in the university”.

Expeditions on the Moon and Mars revealed threatening truths faced by our astronauts, including challenges with the simplest tasks we take for granted on Earth such as breathing, digesting, and elimination of body waste. More worrying are the long-term dangers manifested after months-long missions in space, especially bone loss.

A Union Moving Forward

Original Author: Jessica Watts

Mark Littler’s resignation from the sabbatical team as Finance and Administration Officer has presented a manifold problem for the Union. The question of who will fill the role cannot be answered until the next academic year when elections for sabbatical roles will again take place, and an equal sense of vagueness pervades over the matter of the coordination of union finances, the distribution of responsibility for sabbatical officers, and the resolution of a current and contentious issue for students; the Union’s affiliation to the NUS.

Devil's Advocat: Religion is the cause of homophobia?

Original Author: Yair

What a great topic for my first opinion piece…nice and easy, start gently with nothing too divisive, nothing too sensitive and definitely nothing that might upset people… Two of the most controversial and widely discussed topics in the modern world combine (and clash) in religion and homosexuality.

Tale of an Alpha Female: Confessions of a diva

Original Author: Sharzad Noor

I’ve always been a great believer that money can’t buy you love. As far as I’m concerned anyway, the Beatles never got it wrong. I am a believer that with an extensive knowledge of where to shop, money can buy you happiness. If at least if it doesn’t, a severe lack of it will cause unease.

Pi Film Recommends- Marie Antoinette

Original Author: Jonathan Shia Date Posted: Friday, October 20, 2006

The French were wrong. Sofia Coppola is a genius and Marie Antoinette is another instant classic, following 2003’s glorious Lost in Translation. The two films bear many striking resemblances to each other, each a decidedly beautiful study of decadence, rootless anomie and hipster irony. Coppola seems to have cornered the market on contemporary female isolation. Contemporary, because her Marie Antoinette is more of our time than of her own.

SPORTS

Pi's eye on the results

Original Author: Peter Evans Date Posted: Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Pi sport takes its monthly glimpse at the highly competetive world of UCL sport: This month, it’s Hockey, Lacrosse, Netball and Rugby.

Captain's corner

Original Author: Stefan Bates

The UCL men’s 5ths team has done much over the last season towards cementing its reputation as a safe haven for UCL sportsmen/women. The 5ths is a place where the players get psyched for matches, not with the usual aggressive rhetoric, but with enlightened debate about current social issues, e.g. homosexuality (actually, always about homosexuality). The team is also the most representative of all the UCL football teams which has earned us the name “UCL’s Global Football Team”. We have players stemming from Zimbabwe to Japan, from Nicaragua to Milton-Keynes.

Sports Ball a float away success

Original Author: Peter Evans

It was billed as ‘sports nite on a boat’ and this turned out to be an excellent description of the third annual boat ball, hosted by men’s rugby. Save for the black ties and posh frocks, the event could well have taken place on a Wednesday night in the union. Except it was a Monday night on a boat.

Athletes get off to Flying Start

Original Author: Peter Evans Date Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006

UCL’s cross-country team showed its strength in depth to record two fantastic results in the early-season races. Some outstanding individual performances helped the men’s first team to beat all its local rivals in the events at Parliament Hill and Richmond Park, whilst the women performed admirably, despite struggling for numbers.

Captain’s Corner

Original Author: Nick Ball

It has been a mixed start for UCLU RFC this season. On the back of promotions for the firsts and the seconds last year, expectations were high for another successful campaign. The firsts picked up where they left off with a destruction of LSE in the opening game, followed by a narrow victory over the Strand Poly. This good start was ruined by two narrow losses to Hertfordshire and Imperial Medics and injuries in the inside centre position have taken their toll.

SSEES AFC (1-2) SOAS

Original Author: Oli Geidt

That typical British weather is already upon us, with wind, rain and general soggyness pervading our Isles once more, so it was that SSEES took to the field of play with a score to settle. I like to think of the SSEES vs. SOAS rivalry in various forms. Obviously in the beginning there was the proximity of the buildings, and the fact that they smoked weed while we drank vodka. i.e. they were decadent and we were drunk. Things have changed however.

A Fresher Approach

Original Author: Will Bowers Date Posted: Wednesday, October 25, 2006

For ‘fresher’ read ‘bitch’. This is a proverb, if one can call it such a thing, passed on to me, via text message, from a friend at a lesser educational establishment. It was meant as a forewarning before my first encounter with university sport. Thankfully I am happy, relieved rather, to find that this is not completely the case.

UCLU RFC Men’s 1sts/2nds vs. Beckenham RFC

Original Author: Tom Brown

UCL men’s rugby kicked off their season with a highly competitive friendly match against a hardened Beckenham under 23 side. It was a match of four quarters as the two squads played twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off, whilst the street tough Beckenham team sustained the same team throughout.

Circa 2007

Pi squared issue 4 is out now! Available in departments, libraries, UCLU and ULU.

To Veil or not to Veil

Original Author: Helier Cheung Date Posted: Monday, January 29, 2007

One in three people would like to ban them, Jack Straw claims that they make him uncomfortable, and more young women are buying them than before. But when it comes down to it, are they really such a big deal? Pi Magazine investigates the veil and wonders what the fuss is all about.

The Odeon, The Roxy, The Court… ever get a sense of ‘been there, done that’? Clinging to the belief that a metropolis like London must have more to offer UCL’s thriving population of restless, drunken Freshers, Pi sent out its best writers to the great blue yonder beyond the Bloomsbury area, and into some of London’s finest underground venues- including a strip pub, and a sex shop that also sells coffee. Read on to hear about some of the best-hidden gems in London’s food and entertainment scene.

Jack the ripper: a walk to remember...

Original Author: Raeesa Chowdhury

Looking for an unconventional night out, Raeesa Chowdhury traces the path of one of London’s most notorious serial killers on a late December night…

One of London’s best-kept secrets (and one that’s so good that frankly I’m feeling a little reluctant to share) has to be the city’s longest running one-nighter club; Gaz’s Rockin Blues.

TRAVEL

Girona

Original Author: Azure Gilman Date Posted: Thursday, January 18, 2007

You know the feeling. The city you’re in is fantastic, but you need to get away for a few days. Even overseas, mini-holidays are the thing to do, and fed up with the bustle of Barcelona and the drunks constantly shouting just outside my hotel, it was time to get out of town.

Cycling in Suffolk

Original Author: Harry Chapman

Getting a little tired of London? A day on wheels will put the wind back in your sails and few places are more approachable with a bike that the flat, picturesque coast of East Suffolk.

Notes From Morocco

Original Author: Sarah Reid Date Posted: Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Visiting Morocco is like falling into Alice’s Wonderland: prepare yourself for endless cups of tea, psychedelic sights and crazy characters smoking pipes. Being so close to Europe and vastly different in culture, I took the opportunity whilst in the south of Spain to jump on a ferry to Tangiers and headed down to Marrakesh.

The Other Nigeria

Original Author: Lucy Corker

The stories you’ve probably heard about Nigeria are dire tales of crime, poverty and corruption. True, travelling there for the first time can certainly be daunting. Don’t even think about going without a valid Visa stamp, a vaccination certificate and proof of a return flight. You won’t get through the airport without all three. The country’s problems are not new nor can they be dismissed, but there is also more to the story.

Safari in Kenya

Original Author: Loyal Horsley

Africa - it’s so much more than something for celebrities to discuss on television. When we really only hear about the AIDS epidemic, it’s almost easy to forget that Africa is beautiful, culturally rich and certainly a wonderful place to vacation.

Deer rutting in central London, oaks over a thousand years old and rolling hills that go on and on. All this amongst our busy city streets. It would be hard to picture these two extremes within such close proximity. Well surprisingly, this wild aberration is more real than you might think and only 20 minutes away from the city centre. Richmond Park is the largest and oldest Royal Park in London, containing around 2500 acres (that’s 13 miles) and dates back to the 17th century.